Li Ji was looking intently at his screen when two robots approached and began laying out dishes on the table without a word. He raised his head in confusion.

“Is the Feng Shui bad at that other table?”

Li Xiao sat down in the seat to Li Ji’s left. “Xiao Jin wanted to accompany you for dinner.”

“Nonsense,” Song Jin said as he sat down next to Li Xiao. “It’s clearly you who wanted to accompany your brother for dinner.”

Li Ji’s mood improved slightly. He obediently pushed the screen further away and began to focus on his meal.

The table was a bit small, but it felt nice for the family to squeeze together to eat.

“What kind of bean is this? It’s crispy, sweet, and very delicious.” Song Jin picked one up with his chopsticks and fed it to Li Xiao’s lips.

Li Xiao opened his mouth and bit into it. “Isn’t this just a regular peanut?”

Song Jin tasted it carefully. “It’s coated in a crispy shell and drizzled with honey, but the main thing is that the spices are very unique. I’ve never tasted this before.”

Seeing this, Old Liu explained, “It’s a spice blend made by grinding twenty-three types of aromatic leaves and dried fruits. Half of them are native specialties of Danse.”

Song Jin: “This is the first time I’ve eaten it since arriving in Danse.”

Old Liu smiled. “This was specifically developed to suit His Majesty’s taste. The process is extremely tedious, so you won’t find it outside.”

Song Jin raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected Li Ji to like sweet things too.

Seeing that Song Jin enjoyed it, Li Ji feigned composure and said, “Try a taste of this bulubulu dish as well.”

Song Jin scooped a large spoonful into his mouth, his eyes lighting up.

“Delicious.”

To receive such high praise from the kitten, Li Xiao took a bite out of curiosity. He chewed with a wooden expression. “Isn’t it just regular milk tofu?”

Li Ji: “Savor it carefully.”

Li Xiao: “No flavor.”

Li Ji: “…”

Song Jin: “…”

Your sense of taste is truly as cold and indifferent as your personality.

When they were almost finished eating, Li Ji gestured for Old Liu to pour more tea.

Thinking that since Li Ji loved sweet food so much, the tea must be good too, Song Jin picked up his cup and gulped down a mouthful, nearly sending himself to the afterlife on the spot.

“Cough, cough, cough… so bitter!”

Li Ji picked up his teacup. “Bitter tea reduces internal heat.”

“Only old men need to reduce internal heat.” Song Jin set the teacup down, firmly resolving never to touch it again.

Li Ji: “…”

He used to drink it when he was young too.

Seeing the kitten grimacing from the bitterness, Li Xiao picked up a few sweet beans and fed them to him.

After eating them, Song Jin said, “Still bitter.”

Li Xiao: “Want a spoonful of chili sauce to suppress it?”

Song Jin: “…”

Yi Lian walked over hurriedly from the command section and handed a document to Li Ji.

“These are the statements from the military officers at the garrison base ranked Major and above. There are two hundred and thirty-five in total, along with a few stubborn ones who refuse to confess.”

Li Ji looked through them.

Setting aside the trivial details, there were testimonies from the Major General in overall charge and forty-six Colonels. To compile so many in such a short time meant their efficiency was already considered high.

Li Xiao took the document, glanced at it twice, and asked Yi Lian, “What about those government officials?”

Yi Lian: “The first round of interrogation isn’t over yet, but we should be able to secure quite a few testimonies.”

The shot Li Xiao fired to execute the captain of the Imperial Guard had terrified those officials out of their wits. Throughout the interrogation, they had been trembling and scrambling to answer questions, making it completely unnecessary to use forceful interrogation tactics.

Li Xiao looked at Li Ji. “What are your plans next? Terminate the tour, or continue?”

Li Ji asked tentatively, “Do you have any suggestions?”

Li Xiao: “If you want to continue, skip the Sun-facing Constellation. You can also terminate it and return straight to the palace.”

Li Ji: “What does Xiao Song think?”

Not expecting Li Ji to ask for his opinion, Song Jin, who was eating sugar beans, replied casually, “Either way is fine. Whatever makes you happy, since after all, you’re the one on tour.”

Although the two said something that amounted to nothing, it gave Li Ji the exact answer he wanted.

With the Sun-facing Constellation locked down, they hadn’t actually escaped danger completely. The moment their location was exposed, they could face pursuit from the Meng family at any time.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible to continue the tour.

Yet these two boys had given him the answer “either way is fine,” indicating that even if he chose to continue the tour, they were capable enough to ensure his safety.

In that case, Shengya’s current mobilization at the border became rather intriguing.

At the same time, panic spread among the public online.

S1301 had suffered the largest-scale attack Danse had seen in recent decades, and the whereabouts of the Emperor and the Third Legion remained unknown. To make matters worse, news had just broken that Shengya’s military was lingering at the border, creating an atmosphere that felt as though war was imminent across the network.

Countless people left messages on the military’s official accounts and the Royal Family’s public pages, but none received a direct response. All government accounts collectively played dead.

“@Military, how is His Majesty doing?! What about the Second Prince?! There was news earlier saying they were fine, why haven’t they come forward?!”

“Ahhh, please give us some accurate news quickly, I’m already losing sleep!”

“Is war really about to break out?”

“Just took a stroll through the Shengya internet, a lot of people are discussing how to attack Danse, sob sob.”

“Could the Ravens be a plot engineered by Shengya?!”

“The Royal hotline can no longer be reached, there’s a high probability something happened to His Majesty!”

Many experts in military-related fields analyzed the battlefield videos leaked online, drawing countless onlookers.

[Whether in terms of personnel deployment or armed forces, the enemy troops had the absolute upper hand. This can also be seen from the fact that the league students later had to join the battle. Even if the Third Legion managed to win, it would have been an extremely grueling fight. What concerns me even more is that the garrison failed to intercept the enemy’s invasion, which proves the enemy possesses higher-end weaponry and equipment.]

The comments below read:

“Is it possible the garrison played dead just like the ones at S80?”

“An expert has already analyzed it—the garrison never activated their interception weapons from start to finish!”

“The mechas only used bullets and blades throughout the fight, indicating that large-scale weapons of mass destruction were locked down. The enemy’s strength is terrifying!”

“Our garrison can’t even intercept a terrorist organization. If Shengya attacks, I dare not imagine it!”

“Clearly, the Second Prince and the others have already fought so hard to resist the enemy, sob sob sob.”

Meanwhile, under the hot keywords related to the Inter-Academy Mecha League, the feeds were entirely filled with videos of students piloting their competition mechas to defend the observation towers. Photos and videos of Li Xiao and Song Jin sweeping across the battlefield were being wildly forwarded.

“Killing enemy troops like it’s child’s play—this level of strength is highly formidable even if placed within the military department, let alone a military academy!”

“His Majesty was attacked, and it was the Second Prince and Song Jin who protected him!”

“The students were truly too brave this time!”

“Just saw next door that many family members can’t get in touch with them. I wonder if something happened again after they retreated, I’m so worried!”

“Could it be that Shengya has already broken in?”

“Whether they are dead or alive, just give a clear answer. I’m already too anxious to eat.”

The trending search list was entirely dominated by war-related keywords, with various topics emerging one after another.

Several self-proclaimed military experts began broadcasting live to discuss the probability and win-rate of a war breaking out between Danse and Shengya, and the livestream rooms were instantly packed to capacity.

Military Expert: “Our weapons indeed cannot match Shengya’s, but fighting a war isn’t just about weapons; it also depends on tactics. A good commander can enable an army to exert 200% of its strength. Conversely, if a commander is terrible, even the best weapons will just be a waste of effort.”

Host: “Then are you optimistic about the war that might break out next?”

Military Expert: “Of course. Shengya cannot bypass the South-tea Constellation, and the one currently in charge of the South-tea Constellation is General Meng Jian. As long as he is there, Shengya’s army won’t be able to step foot inside.”

The host took out data prepared in advance and read a long script detailing Meng Jian’s historical battle achievements.

Gifts never stopped pouring into the livestream room, and the bullet comments were completely filled with “Long live Meng Jian” and “General Meng Jian is mighty.”

Onboard the warship, Li Xiao looked at the data organized by Yan Qing while listening to the military expert talking nonsense.

“Are we just going to let them boast like this?” Eating his fruit salad, Song Jin nearly laughed out loud.

Li Xiao: “We’ll wait until the opponent finishes making their moves.”

Song Jin looked at the screen in front of him.

“The Gaofeng race?”

“Mm.” Li Xiao opened the map and circled the location. “Someone saw the military attacking a residential area, and the area bombed just happened to be the permanent residence of the Gaofeng race.”

Song Jin skewered a strawberry with his fork, looking thoughtful. “Assuming the Meng family did the bombing, did the Golden Feather Sparrows go to stop them? Then why did they bomb the garrison base?”

Li Xiao switched to two other screens. “The Golden Feather Sparrow Legion’s station at the time wasn’t the Zifu Constellation. According to the regulations, it wasn’t their place to intervene.”

This was the most crucial point regarding the Golden Feather Sparrow coup.

Why did the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion go to the Zifu Constellation, which wasn’t their own station, to launch an attack on the garrison base?

Song Jin thought for a moment. “If the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion knew the Meng family was bombing civilians, others in the military would inevitably know as well. Even if Wei Feng wanted to stand up for them, couldn’t he have reported it first?”

Following his line of thought, Li Xiao continued, “But the result was that the Meng family suffered no consequences at all, while the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion was characterized as a coup.”

Song Jin took a small bite out of the tip of the strawberry. “Were those families already allied back in that era?”

Li Xiao recalled his secret conversation with Yi Yongning.

The other man had mentioned that the Bique race had also been glorious once, but he seemed very evasive about the coup.

Even if the truth really was a Golden Feather Sparrow coup, why did his grandfather destroy the records? Was he too furious, or was there another reason?

Song Jin: “Do you think it’s possible the Meng family used some method to lure the Golden Feather Sparrows to the Zifu Constellation, just like how they dealt with the Ravens—provoking the Golden Feather Sparrows into bombing the garrison base, and then turning around to bite them back?”

At first glance it made sense, but there were also illogical aspects.

The Ravens were a star pirate group and had suffered long-term oppression with all avenues of appeal cut off, leaving them with no choice but to resolve problems through the most violent means.

But the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion was different; they wouldn’t have resorted to such an extreme and self-destructive method.

With this thought in mind, Li Xiao took Song Jin to find Li Ji and repeated Song Jin’s hypothesis.

Li Ji was reviewing the external situation monitored by the legion. Hearing this, he pondered for a moment and shook his head. “Highly unlikely. In that era, the strength of the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion was absolute number one in the military, and they had many supporters. If the Meng family dared to do it so blatantly, they would definitely have been exposed. Furthermore, for Wei Feng to be able to serve as the legion commander, he shouldn’t have been that foolish.”

Wei Feng, who was listening nearby: “…”

Why did those words sound so unpleasant to hear?

Song Jin: “Are there any relevant records?”

Li Ji: “No.”

Li Xiao: “You mentioned before that only one investigator is left. Who is it?”

Li Ji: “Gao Cheng.”

Li Xiao had a slight impression of this person. Gao Wanxin’s nephew, who had been responsible for scouting enemy intelligence after the outbreak of the civil war in his past life, and had done a fairly good job in intelligence collection.

“He’s quite honest, it’s just that his efficiency is simply too slow.”

As Li Ji spoke, he voiced some dissatisfaction. “He’s been investigating for over a decade and hasn’t found any crucial clues.”

“If grandfather destroyed them back then, it indeed wouldn’t be easy to investigate.”

Li Xiao asked him, “Give me his contact information. I have some questions to ask him.”

Li Ji: “I don’t have it here. You’ll have to ask Gao Wanxin.”

Song Jin: “You had someone investigate, yet you don’t even have their contact information?”

Li Ji: “I usually just ask Gao Wanxin directly.”

Li Xiao frowned slightly.

“So for all these years, your intelligence has only been obtained through Gao Wanxin?”

Li Ji nodded, suddenly realizing something.

Gao Wanxin had concealed information about Li Xiao; could he have also concealed information about the investigation?

“What exactly is this Gao family’s stance?” Song Jin crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of the table. “It always feels very subtle. When are we going to meet this old man Gao?”

Li Xiao was thinking about even more.

In his past life, the Gao family had helped him fight the Meng family. From this perspective, the Gao family and the Meng family were not on the same side, which meant that no matter what the Gao family’s stance was, they were “safe” to them.

As for Gao Cheng’s intelligence—whether it truly couldn’t be found, or if it was found but concealed, or if it was withheld after being reported to Gao Wanxin—they would only know after interacting with the two members of the Gao family.

Seeing Li Xiao deep in thought, Li Ji couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.

Ever since he learned that Wei Feng was Li Xiao’s genetic father, the more he looked, the more he felt these two were very similar.

The more similar they were, the more displeased he felt.

As Li Xiao was thinking, he suddenly heard his brother say out of nowhere, “When you were little, they all said you and I were cast from the same mold.”

Li Xiao was puzzled. “? So?”

Seeing Li Ji hesitating to speak, Song Jin subtly caught the meaning behind the words and burst out laughing.

“But I think Xiao Xiao resembles Li Xun more. Even the earring belongs to Li Xun, right?”

Li Ji: “…”

Song Jin: “I heard that in Danse, the accessories of deceased relatives aren’t given away lightly. So why was the earring given to Xiao Xiao?”

Li Ji’s gaze swept across the silver ring on the tip of Song Jin’s ear. “I heard from Father that the relationship between the King and the Royal Uncle was extremely close. Back then, the Royal Uncle died unexpectedly during an investigation, and Father fell into depression for years because of it. It was with great difficulty that they had Xiao Xiao, so giving his younger brother’s earring to him was probably a form of emotional transference.”

Speaking up to this point, Li Ji recalled the events of those years and added another sentence, “After Xiao Xiao was born, Father was indeed much happier. He held him all day long and wouldn’t let go.”

Wei Feng glanced sideways: “…”

Why did that last sentence sound so sour?

What a brother-complex.

Hearing Li Ji say this, Song Jin became even more perplexed.

If Li Xiao was merely a child raised by the Royal Family to improve genes, they typically wouldn’t place such heavy emotions on him, right?

The whole matter was very discordant. Where exactly did the problem lie?

Speaking of this matter, Li Xiao took the opportunity to ask, “Teacher Yan’s personal information doesn’t state his race as Bique. Why did rumors spread in the palace back then that I was born to a Bique attendant?”

“No, someone knew he was Bique.” Li Ji’s expression grew serious. “After Father and Mother met with their accident, rumors began to circulate in the palace that Brother Qing was Bique, that he had always maintained an improper relationship with Father, and that you were also born to him.”

Li Xiao was puzzled. “Was his identity exposed by himself, or…?”

Li Ji shook his head. “By the time I noticed, it had already reached the point where everyone in the palace knew about it.”

“Gossip is the easiest thing to spread.” Wei Feng, with a cigarette between his lips, said gloomily, “Gossip involving a royal scandal like this can become known to everyone in less than half an hour.”

Song Jin asked Li Ji, “Did you never suspect the rumors when you heard them?”

Li Ji’s expression was very poor. “Meng Jian used the excuse of the Bique race harboring malicious intentions to pressure me into executing Li Xiao. I had no choice but to test the DNA.”

Song Jin: “And the result?”

Li Ji: “The result confirmed that Li Xiao shares no blood relation with Father.”

Song Jin and the other two were completely mystified by what they heard.

Wei Feng couldn’t help but interject, “To prove whether he was born to Yan Qing, why didn’t you just compare Yan Qing’s DNA with this kid’s?”

“Because Brother Qing had already been sent away by me at that time.” Li Ji took a sip of tea, suppressing the irritation rising in his chest.

Song Jin rested his chin in his hand and pondered for a moment. “Then did you ever compare Li Xiao’s DNA with your father’s?”

“No.” Li Ji looked over. “Li Xiao’s appearance can already explain everything. Did we still need to test it?”

Song Jin smiled. “My meaning is, what is the relationship between Li Xiao and Li Xun?”

Li Ji’s brow twitched.

“Impossible!”

“Why is it impossible?” Song Jin spoke in a lazy, unhurried tone. “Since Li Xiao can even have Wei Feng as a dad, what else is impossible?”

Wei Feng: “…My genes are very good, alright?”

“Impossible means impossible!” Li Ji slammed the documents in his hand onto the table, stood up, and left.

Wei Feng: “Oh my, he was driven away by your anger.”

Song Jin: “Shouldn’t you quickly follow him? Maybe he went to hit the head.”

Wei Feng: “…”

Are you a demon?

Li Xiao: “…”

What a headache.

At the same time, at the military headquarters in the Sky-falling Constellation.

Zheng Kangan sat in Meng Jian’s small meeting room, and the two were in a secret discussion.

Zheng Kangan brewed tea. “I received intelligence stating that the Shengya Royal Family intends to cut the military budget. The Shengya military wants to take this opportunity to perform well and strive to retain their budget, which is why they are so proactive in carrying out missions.”

Meng Jian sat across from him, playing with two walnuts in his hand, his gaze resting on a Golden Feather Sparrow tea pet.

“Deploying so many troops at once doesn’t make sense.”

“No matter what Shengya’s purpose is, our most important task right now is to stabilize the domestic situation.” Zheng Kangan poured the tea and placed a cup in front of him. “The timing right now is wrong. It’s too risky.”

Meng Jian picked up the teacup, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Do you think it’s possible that Shengya’s deployment of troops this time is precisely to prevent us from moving against the Royal Family?”

Zheng Kangan looked at him in confusion. “Surely not? What need does Shengya have to do that?”

“But the timing of their troop deployment is too delicate.”

Meng Jian didn’t take a sip and set the teacup down again, his expression somewhat anxious. “Just as I was about to move against Li Ji, Shengya stepped forward.”

“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. They are waiting for you to resolve the Royal Family, and then they will come to resolve you, acquiring Danse with the least amount of effort.”

Zheng Kangan sneered. “Our energy reserves are several times that of Shengya. From this point alone, we cannot let our guard down.”

After chatting for over half an hour, a knock sounded at the door, and an adjutant entered to report news.

“Sir, Shengya has already begun bombing three star pirate groups along the border.”

“The internet is in a state of panic.” Zheng Kangan took over the conversation. “Rather than obsessing over whether to move against the Royal Family, it’s better to seize the opportunity to win over public sentiment. The more it is a time like this, the more careful and cautious we must be. One wrong step and the whole game is lost.”

Meng Jian thought for a long while. “Lift the lockdown on the Sun-facing Constellation, and deploy a portion of our forces to the border of the South-tea Constellation.”

Adjutant: “Yes, sir!”

After the public opinion had fermented for more than ten hours, Meng Jian’s official account released the latest dynamic on the prevention and control of the South-tea Constellation, stating that in order to ensure the safety of several inhabited planets along the border, the intensity of border patrols would be temporarily enhanced.

Looking at it, it was almost on par with the military force deployed by Shengya.

The comments section was filled with bursts of cheers, all shouting that the Meng family had finally taken action and that they could sleep soundly now.

Some netizens asked about the safety of Li Ji and Li Xiao, and their comments were upvoted to the top few hot comments.

Meng Jian replied directly beneath the messages.

[His Majesty and the Second Prince are safe.]

However, this message, which originally could have harvested public sentiment, failed to produce the intended effect.

Many people questioned below it.

“Then why hasn’t the Royal Family issued an announcement? Why hasn’t His Majesty come forward?”

“Why have all the students disappeared? What about the Third Legion?”

“We want His Majesty to speak in person!”

“This answer is truly perfunctory. We want to see the real person!”

The voices of doubt grew louder and louder. Meng Jian found it annoying to look at, so he instructed his assistant to post another detailed update explaining how the garrison at S1301 had worked hard to help the Third Legion resist the enemy troops, and ultimately enabled Li Ji and Li Xiao to escape danger successfully.

Every word and phrase carried the meaning that “this victory was entirely due to the garrison’s credit.”

But no matter how they organized their words, it wasn’t as convincing as a single photo or a video.

Just as conspiracy theories began to circulate online, Yi Yongning suddenly posted an update.

[@S1301 Garrison, please come forward and explain why you acted as though you didn’t see anything when the enemy troops invaded?! Why didn’t you deploy troops when His Majesty was attacked?!]

A brief line of text directly slapped the face of Meng Jian’s short essay.

At the same time, it caused panic to spread once again.

In the comments below:

“General Yi, what exactly is the situation?!”

“I just want to know where His Majesty is and whether he is still alive!”

“Heavens, I was wondering how the enemy troops could just casually break into a first-class inhabited planet. Is the garrison trying to rebel?”

“Who on earth should we believe?!”

Seeing this update, Meng Jian swept the folder off the table with a single strike.

“Old Yi has been getting bolder and bolder lately!”

In the past, Yi Yongning would absolutely never have dared to wade into such muddy waters.

Shortly after Yi Yongning posted his update, the Third Legion released a new update, consisting of only a live broadcast screen with no extra introduction.

On the screen was Li Ji, with gauze wrapped around his head and blood on his body.

“I am very sorry to meet everyone in this state. Regarding the enemy attack that broke out on S1301, I apologize to all the citizens affected by the war… The relevant investigation is already underway, and we will give everyone an explanation at the earliest opportunity. In addition, the itinerary for the Sun-facing Constellation will be temporarily canceled, and we will consider compensating everyone in other forms…”

The number of people in the livestream room surged to tens of billions.

The bullet comments and comments section crashed directly due to the traffic.

Seeing many messages crying and begging to see Li Xiao, Li Ji looked outside the camera. “Xiao Xiao, come over here for a moment.”

The comment bullet comments suddenly went quiet for an instant.

In the next moment, Li Xiao appeared behind Li Ji.

“What’s wrong?”

Li Ji: “They all want to see you.”

Li Xiao looked at the camera and said casually, “Xiao Jin and I are both fine. A few of the competing classmates sustained minor injuries, so everyone doesn’t need to worry too much.”

On the bullet comments:

“Never thought I’d see the day when His Majesty and the Second Prince appear together, ahhh!”

“Don’t believe it! Let me see Song Jin!”

“Begging for them to be in the same frame!”

“Requesting Song Jin to show his face +1”

Li Ji granted every request of the netizens and turned his head to look outside the camera again. “Xiao Song, come over here for a moment.”

Song Jin entered the frame holding his fruit salad, smiling and waving at the camera. “I am the future Prince Consort, Song Jin.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Ji: “…”